


How We Got Here

by lalablue0



Series: Noraverse [7]
Category: Prospect (2018)
Genre: Angst, Baby, Blood Loss, Bowsum Conservatory, Cesarean Section, Difficult Pregnancy, Ezra (Prospect) - Freeform, Ezra is a good father, Ezra x Nora, F/M, Mild Blood, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Prospect (2018) - Freeform, Prospect (film), Smut, The Ephrate, difficult birth, mention of injury, mentions of vomit, noraverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:47:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24478948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalablue0/pseuds/lalablue0
Summary: Moments in time when Ezra really loved, wanted to be loved and fell in love.
Series: Noraverse [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750858
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	How We Got Here

**Author's Note:**

> The chronological pattern is in reverse, with the first section being the most recent, going backward through time.
> 
> Don't forgot to read the tags. 
> 
> I hope to update the final chapter hopefully before the end of September 2020. I have a fair portion written, but far from what I consider done. If you see this message in Oct 2020 and do not see another work to click on at the end- poke me and make me work. :)

**How We Got Here**

It's a chance I take.

when I want something bad.

My heart beats with this rhythm.

My breath is the only sound.

My soul aches with loneliness.

My passion could be unbridled

with haunting waves of euphoria.

  
  


Destinies unfulfilled

or dreams of my own design.

casting wasted brain cells aside

and putting me one step closer to death.

  
  
  
  


\--

The Bowsum Conservatory took up a large swath of land in the northwestern tip of the largest continent.

  
  


Neither Ezra or Nora had been on a central planet since Nora did a ration at a hospital on Ariel some twenty years prior. The 'verse had become a military state and the leaders only cared about extending their lives, filling their stomachs, treating their loved ones. The central planets took excess to the extreme.

  
  


Nora was able to secure a contract at the hospital on campus, which meant that they could stay in staff quarters. Even Ezra was able to secure part time work at the conservatory's library. A notion that delighted him. Their aurelac could provide, but Ezra knew the value of labour.

  
  


The seasons were different from the Pug. The Ephrate was in a perpetual early spring. Cool crisp air with the threat of rainfall. The threat of snow on gray days. The appearance of the sun was always greeted cordially.

  
  


The impending birth of their child scared him. He would never voice the fear to Nora. The thoughts that ran through Ezra's mind were often dark.

  
  


Their flat had three bedrooms but Cee stayed in the dormitory during the week. After classes, she always made her way to the library. She would study while Ezra finished his shift. Then together they would walk across the campus to their flat, where they made dinner together. They sat together as a family for dinner. It was his favorite time of the day.

  
  


Ezra recalled how everyday after school, Nora walked with him to the elementary school to pick up his little sister. He carried her backpack and held her hand. Jada would gladly babble about her day and Ezra genuinely smiled and engaged her.

  
  


Jada was practice for Ezra in preparation for Cee. Together they would work on her homework and then make dinner. The routine came quick and easy in their new home on The Ephrate.

  
  


Ezra wasn't sure why Nora developed a taste for greasy foods, but he couldn't deny her anything considering her condition. He set off in the snow to retrieve the fried root vegetable sticks that she loved so much.

  
  


Nora had been nesting like crazy since Solstice. Ezra swore he could set his watch to the woman's mood swings. He did everything in his power not to make any sort of mess. He had learned the hard way what happened if he did. Nora was normally a calm quiet one, but with all the hormones she had become a sort of tyrant. Shoes had to be taken off at the door. His toast crumbs had to be cleaned immediately and Kevva help him if he left a cup, anywhere. She even had a fit when he accidentally forgot to recap the toothpaste. Don't even remind him of what happens if he leaves the toilet seat up. He made a conscious effort to stay on Nora's good side.

  
  


So imagine his surprise coming home to find the flat in disarray. He frowned as he moved through the parts of a stroller that she had obviously failed at putting together.

  
  


“I told you that I would help put this together,” Ezra called out.

  
  


He bent down and picked up a thin metal tube. He dropped it immediately when he felt that it was sticky. He looked down at his hand and saw that his fingers were stained red. He instinctively knew what it was. He had seen it too often in his lifetime. It was blood.

  
  


Suddenly all his senses became hyper aware. Nora hadn't responded when he called out.

  
  


“Nora!” He called as he rounded the corner to their kitchen. There was a small pool of blood in front of the sink. He followed the dark red droplets to their bedroom.

  
  


“I think the sun might come out today,” she said with a calm edge to her voice that didn't match the panic Ezra felt inside himself.

  
  


Ezra approached her and turned her around to face him. His eyes scanned her body up and down and Ezra felt all the blood drain from his face.

  
  


The front of Nora's trousers were soaked through with the dark liquid.

  
  


“I'm leaking,” she said as if this were a surprise to her.

  
  


“The baby?” Ezra's question was barely a whisper. He put his hand on her large belly and felt a sense of some relief when he felt a good strong kick. “Come on. We have to get you to the hospital.”

  
  


The light disappeared from her eyes. Her mouth crunched up, wanting to speak more words, but never forming the right words to say.

  
  


Ezra was panicked. He just knew that his wife was bleeding and their baby could be in trouble if he didn't get her moving.

  
  
  
  


“How's Nora? How's my wife? What about the baby? It's too soon, isn't it? The baby isn't due till the next rotation.” Ezra's questions flew furiously from his mouth.

  
  


The doctor held up his hands in a gesture to slow down. “You did good getting her here so quickly. We are moving her to surgery for a Cesarean. Nora has asked for you. Please follow me.”

  
  


Ezra felt the doctor was much too calm for the situation. Ezra followed him anyway. The healers wasted no time in getting Nora prepped for the surgery. Ezra was allowed to stay for the process.

  
  


Ezra was told to scrub down and then dress up in the same garb the healers wore. Nora, despite the drugs now circulating in her system, allowed herself a chuckle when she saw him.

  
  


“I think you missed your calling. You look good as a doctor.” Nora gave a weak wink in his direction.

  
  


“Yeah, don't have the schooling though,” Ezra stated sheepishly as he walked to her side and took her hand.

  
  


The nurse pulled up a curtain between Nora's chest and her belly.

  
  


“Okay Nora, you may feel some discomfort and pulling, but that's normal,” the doctor informed before disappearing behind the curtain.

  
  


Ezra and Nora continued to converse back and forth while on the other side of the curtain, his child was being born. Ezra kept glancing over, but he wanted to focus his attention on Nora. Nora gently squeezed his hand and nodded at him. Giving him silent permission to watch the doctors work.

  
  


Ezra was in awe of the sight. From his vantage point he could see just about everything. When the doctor reached both hands inside her belly and pulled out a baby, he just stopped breathing. The doctor positioned the infant that gave Ezra the first view of their child.

  
  


“Nora, he's a boy. We have a son, Nora. A little boy.” Ezra beamed as he kissed Nora's forehead.

  
  


“Name him after my mother.” Nora's words slurred.

  
  


“Henrietta? It's a little feminine, don't you think?”

  
  


Nora sighed deeply. “Henry. His name is Henry.”

  
  


Ezra contemplated this for a moment. Let the name roll around on his tongue. “Henry. Henry. Henry. Yeah. Okay. It's a strong name.”

  
  


“Why isn't he crying?” Nora asked. Her brow furrow as she strained to hear the tell tale cries of the newborn.

  
  


Ezra peered back over the curtain and watched as the nurses whisked his son away. Ezra released his grip on Nora's hand after a quick kiss to her knuckles. Ezra stepped over to the side of the operating room where Henry was taken and watched the nurses as they rushed around his little boy.

  
  


“Why isn't he crying?” Ezra asked as he looked at the infant. Henry was still. In fact, he seemed too still. Ezra may not have been around a lot of babies, but he knew they were supposed to move around a bit.

  
  


“Sir. You'll have to step back.” A nurse told him as she pushed him out of the way.

  
  


Ezra pushed back. “No. Tell me what's going on with my son. Why isn't he crying?”

  
  


“I'm sorry sir, you need to let us work.”

  
  


Ezra scrubbed his hand over his face as he watched the nurse place two fingers on his son's chest and thrust it downward. Several more thrusts and Ezra felt his head begin to get fuzzy and his vision blurred a little.

  
  


A loud beeping from behind him snapped Ezra out of himself and he whirled around to find the doctors moving in a silent ballet around his wife.

  
  


Nora was pale against the blue surgical drapes. But against the drapes, the blood that soaked through around Nora's belly was almost black. It dripped along the floor and blurred as feet moved through it.

  
  


“What the hell is going on?” Ezra questioned over the incessant beeping.

  
  


“Get him out of here,” the doctor ordered.

  
  


“What? No! What's wrong with Nora?” Ezra demanded, despite an orderly pushing him towards the door. Ezra pushed back against the man and rushed back over to Nora's side. He glanced back at his baby boy a few meters away and saw the nurse continuing to thrust his chest in effort to get his little heart beating. “Please, just tell me what's wrong.”

  
  


The doctor sighed but continued working on his wife. “There's a complication. Normally the uterus begins to firm up after birth. It's not happening and she is bleeding profusely.”

  
  


“You can fix her, right? You can stop the bleeding?” Ezra caressed Nora's forehead with his hand.

  
  


“I'll do everything I can. But we really need you to wait outside. We need all hands on deck to help here.”

  
  


A million thoughts coursed through his mind and he shut his eyes tightly. Ezra kissed Nora's hand once more and let go. He walked with the orderly and the door echoed closed behind him.

  
  


He didn't know how much time had passed, he was lost within his own thoughts. Ezra wasn't even aware of the nurse who approached him until she was gently shaking his shoulder.

  
  


Ezra snapped out of his reverie and finally gazed up the elderly woman. He stood promptly and waited for her to tell him Nora's fate.

  
  


“Your wife would like to see you now.”

  
  


Ezra never thought he'd heard more wonderful words, his breath shuddered. As he followed the nurse down the hall towards the maternity wing, he wanted so much to ask about his son. He was so scared of what the possible response would be, he didn't dare bring the question to his lips.

  
  


The nurse opened the door to Nora's room and Ezra's heart once again jumped into his throat.

  
  


“Hey, baby, it's your daddy. Say 'hi, Daddy',” Nora cooed as she waived their newborn son's hand at Ezra.

  
  


Ezra crossed the room and was at the bedside in a flash. He quickly relieved Nora of the swaddled bundle of pink baby. He realized that in the delivery room, he wasn't this color; The pink bundle in his arm had been a shade of blue. The overwhelming memory suddenly strikes him and it hits him hard. He's holding his son, who is breathing and pink and Ezra counts, ten fingers and ten toes and unhappy with having his toes free from the warm blanket and Kevva, does he have a set of lungs on him. He honestly thought he would not see the fruits of her labor. Ezra is crying and Nora is rubbing his back. Ezra is holding his son and Nora is trying to console him.

  
  


Nora took back the tiny screaming bundle and promptly removed a breast from her smock. A little coaxing and the newborn latched on and the room fell quiet again.

  
  


Ezra stared at the sight before him. He was in awe of the bond his son was forming with his beautiful wife. They were alive and he was in awe.

  
  


“Ezra?” Nora's sweet voice cut through the entangled thoughts that plagued Ezra.

  
  


“Yes, my love?”

  
  


“I'd appreciate if you would go collect our daughter,” Nora asked.

  
  


Ezra straightened. Cee. He had almost forgotten. He bent down and gave his son a quick kiss and one for his Nora. “I'll be right back.”

  
  


He paused at the door and looked back at his family, “I love you.”

  
  


Outside, the snow stopped falling.

  
  


–

  
  
  
  


His Screamer was thankfully free of channel rats, but inactivity had made his belly grow alongside Nora's during their long journey from the Pug.

  
  


Oh, his beautiful Nora. Her belly filled with his progeny, radiated grace and beauty. Even when she did not feel it herself. He worshiped her. Had since they met. Will till he dies. He worshiped her. There was no other term he could use. She was his queen. His goddess. He would gladly bow should she require it. She was his soul. The energy that surrounded him and bound him. He was not sure how he existed without her. He's still unsure he had.

  
  


Ezra had fallen into a new routine. He wasn't sure he liked it. He had missed the open expanse of space. He missed the hunt. He missed the thrill of finding treasure.

  
  


As he awoke beside her, he inhaled her scent. She was his treasure. Fingers played against her bare skin. He frantically searched for some contact. She moved closer into his embrace and kissed him deeply. Her fingers traced his lips, still wet from those indescribable kisses.

  
  


“What would I do if I didn’t have you?” she asked.

  
  


“I speculate you would wither away like an old spinster,” he joked.

  
  


She gave him a gentle slap across the chest, but her embrace held fast. She settled back into her amorous mood. Ezra would have been more than content to watch the end of the world if it meant he could stay forever in her embrace, nestled in her bosom.

  
  


“I would have you. I would have you every day. Till the sun ceases to rise. I love you more than life, my dear sweet wife,” he cooed as his fingers entangled in her hair.

  
  


Ezra pulled her closer to him still and began to kiss her. Their tongues tasting each other in a twisted dance. He loved this dance, he knew all the steps. His hand ran up and down the length of her body with ghostly touches that caused gooseflesh. Her nipples hardened under his touch. He cupped her breast and brought his lips to the nub, kissing and biting gently. She managed quiet moans and hissed when he pulled away.

  
  


“Want you, Ez,” her breathing was erratic as she worked her hand down his torso and palmed his hardness through the thin material of his boxers.

  
  


She shifted and pushed Ezra on to his back. She straddled his hips and leaned in for a kiss, her protruding belly pushing into Ezra's. Ezra pulled at the hem of her pyjama bottoms. He broke their kiss just long enough for him to pull her top over her head. She struggled with her bottoms and bounded too close to the bed's edge. Ezra grabbed her thigh as she began to tumble over the edge.

  
  


“Nora?” Ezra questioned with widened eyes.

  
  


Nora giggled from the awkward angle she found herself in. She was half on the floor and Ezra had her legs pinned on the bed. She tried to bend forward and crawl back onto the bed but her belly got in the way. She huffed out a heavy breath, “You need to let go, babe.”

  
  


“Never,” Ezra quickly responded.

  
  


A few beats passed. The stalemate literally left Nora hanging. She finally kicked free and slid completely down to the floor. Ezra peeked over the edge with great concern lined on his face. He was surprised to find her grinning madly.

  
  


Nora pulled Ezra down on top of her and pulled him into a deep kiss. Her hands quickly freeing her aching wet sex.

  
  


“Surely you want to be back on the bed?” Ezra questioned between her magical kisses.

  
  


The notion that they might get caught caused a peak of arousal. He knew she felt him against her hip. The hard heat pulsing beside her. She responded by taking his hardened cock and guiding it between her thighs, “Take me, husband. I need you inside me,” her hand guided him between gasps and groans. Her grip was firm yet gentle.

  
  


Ezra grinned wickedly and happily obliged to her wishes. He aligned himself at her entrance and slid in between her slick folds easily. Her whimpers of pleasure echoed in his brain.

  
  


It was as if they were completely in sync with each other. Their bodies are perfectly timed. The pounding of hearts, heavy breathing, and slapping skin echoed obscenely off the metal hull.

  
  


His only goal was to make her feel good. She was always quite impressed with the seriousness he took to that task. She wrapped her legs around his hips and squeezed his body tightly to hers. He shifted her left leg over his shoulder, which tipped her slightly on her right side. He straddled her right thigh and used her left leg for leverage as he drove himself deeper into her. He could feel the fire begin to burn in his belly. Feel the climax building. The sounds grew louder and faster as they approached climax. He felt his pace stutter and knew that he was getting ready to cum.

  
  


Ezra leaned forward and placed hard and fevered kisses onto her lips and down her neck. Her skin irritated from where his mustache touched her face and neck. He felt her tighten around his cock as she began to orgasm. She bit her palm to stifle the yell that threatened to escape her mouth. His hips faltered and he spilled his warm seed into her.

  
  


They fought to catch their breath after their vigorous exercise. Ezra continued to place breathless kisses across her bare skin, his cock still twitching inside her.

  
  


“I love you. I love you. I love you,” he declared between kisses.

  
  


He moved up to face her again. He gazed into her sleepy eyes and kissed her lips. She hummed against him.

  
  


“I love you too.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


–

  
  
  
  


The first time Cee called Ezra Dad, her face paled and her eyes widened at the unexpected endearment that entered her vocabulary. It was said in the heat of the moment. The moment being when Ezra and Cee were attempting to make bread together. He was playful and threw a pinch of flour at her.

  
  


“Dad. Stop.”

  
  


So Ezra stopped. He broke out into the widest grin that made his eyes crinkle. The expression quickly changed when he saw the look on her face. She didn't mean it. Her eyes betrayed that it was all a mistake and if she could take it back she would.

  
  


Ezra's smile shifted and became less warm. Cee closed her eyes and seemed to be trying to work out what she would say to him. She quickly assessed her surroundings and it became obvious that she did not like her current predicament.

  
  


“It's okay,” Ezra started, “I know you didn't mean it.”

  
  


Cee growled like a bear. It was an unexpected reaction. He felt his throat constricting, signaling that he was on the verge of tears. He knew that he had to leave her presence or she would bear witness to the emotional fall out.

  
  


“I didn't mean it,” Cee called after him as he made his excuse to leave, “But I want to.”

  
  


Ezra paused in the doorway but could not turn to face her.

  
  


“You're my dad,” Cee stated matter-of-fact, “More than Damon ever was.”

  
  


After a moment he felt himself starting to calm. He felt his fist unclench and realized he hadn't even known he was making it. He turned to face her. His daughter. Huh. Who would have thought.

  
  


“I know you call me daughter, I think it's time I start calling you... Dad,” Cee said with a hopefulness that only a child can possess.

  
  


Ezra too, was hopeful. He would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a twinge of something every time she called Nora, Mom. It wasn't jealousy, per se`. It was more of a definitive neediness. Ezra loved Cee as his own. She had stolen his heart. She saved him from himself. Everything he had he could attribute to her. She made him want to be a good man. She made him want to be a good father.

  
  


“I'd like that,” Ezra said sheepishly.

  
  


Cee smiled. “Okay.”

  
  


“Okay.”

  
  


–

  
  


“I can't put my finger on it. But something is different. Even Nora – Mom- is different,” Cee bit at her fingernails. She struggled with what to call Nora from time to time. Cee's mother had passed when Cee was only seven, so her memories were fuzzy. Cee loved Nora and Ezra and expressed that she felt more like their child then she ever had with Damon.

  
  


Ezra thinks part of the reason he connected so well with Cee is their shared experiences. His mother passed when he was eight. Left with a father that used, abused, and neglected him. His salvation came from the love Nora gave freely. Cee's salvation came from the love that Nora and Ezra gave freely.

  
  


“A bad difference?”

  
  


“I don't think so. But I just feel like something else happened with your brother that you're keeping from me,” Cee bit at her fingernails, “Is Mom- sick?”

  
  


Ezra and Nora agreed to postpone informing Cee of her pending sibling, feeling they still needed to celebrate Cee's adoption. A special occasion that they had been absurdly denied.

  
  


Ezra found himself biting his bottom lip. He felt the tug at the corners of his mouth and knew that if he were to look at Cee in that moment, he would reveal their secret.

  
  


Ezra looked up at the stars and took a deep breath. A meteor chose that moment to streak through the night sky. Cee's attention shifted and she marveled at the sight.

  
  


Cee turned back to face him, her brow creased in confusion, “I lived my entire life floating. I never finished a school year. I never knew a home. I know you killed my father, and I shot you in response. But it may be the greatest thing you could have done for me. I know it's weird, but I am happy.”

  
  


Then it was Ezra's turn to crease his brow in confusion, “Why would that be weird? Being happy has been the end game since we filed for adoption. Has it not?”

  
  


“Yeah. I don't know. Maybe I'm just not used to the attention,” Cee said.

  
  


“I may have gone a touch overboard with the time I have been spending with you. I guess I am trying to make up for the lost time while Dig had me under his persuasions.”

  
  


“So there is nothing that you've been keeping from me?”

  
  


Ezra had to laugh at the return to the original subject matter and wondered how he could dodge the question this time. The shooting star that entered their orbit the first time could certainly not be counted upon again. Ezra wasn't ready to have this conversation. Not yet. Not without Nora there to answer the questions Cee would most certainly ask.

  
  


“Cee, sweetie, it's time for bed,” Nora called from the front door. Ezra's saving grace.

  
  


Cee didn't take her eyes off him. She was still expecting an answer.

  
  


“Fuck,” he mumbled.

  
  


Ezra knew that Cee absorbed every detail even if it seemed like she wasn't paying any attention.

  
  


Ezra took Cee's hand in his and pulled her up from her seat. “Come on, daughter, you heard your mother, time for bed.”

  
  
  
  


\--

  
  


“How long have you known?”

  
  


“I just figured it out a few days ago.”

  
  


“Are you well? Do you experience the morning sickness I've heard tell about?”

  
  


“A little last evening,” she bit at her bottom lip, “Although I am feeling a bit queasy now.”

  
  


Ezra took notice of how pale she appeared. There were dark circles under her eyes. No doubt from late nights worrying about him. He noticed that she kept swallowing, a sure sign she was trying to fight the urge to vomit. The uneven terrain surely churned her stomach as much as it did his. Suddenly she pulled over and jumped out of the transport. Ezra quickly followed her to the side of the path. He pulled back a curtain of her hair just in time.

  
  


She spit a few times and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, “Oh that's gross.”

  
  


“You are healer, you are far more accustomed to the vile nature of the human body than I.”

  
  


She breathed deeply. The air was cleaner in recent weeks since all the strikes forcing factories to close.

  
  


Nora rubbed absently at her belly. Ezra found his hand covering hers. He grinned madly and rested his forehead against hers, “We're going to have a baby,” he felt her nod against him, “How did Cee take the news?”

  
  


“I haven't told her. I needed you to be first.”

  
  


Ezra paused for a moment and considered all the What If's, “What if I couldn't get Dig to come back so quickly? What if_. What if I never came back?”

  
  


“I don't know. I don't know what I would have done,” tears began to pool in her eyes, “I tried not to think about it. Of course, it was all I could think about.”

  
  


He pulled her tighter to him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and he hissed in pain.

  
  


“Sorry. Sorry. Oh Ez. We are a pair,” she said as she pulled away.

  
  


“Soon to be a quartet,” Ezra quipped.

  
  


“I don't think we should tell Cee right away. She's going to be overwhelmed with your return and-”

  
  


“We owe her a proper celebration. it would be wholly unfair not to celebrate the one we just got.”

  
  


“That as well.”

  
  


Ezra observed her face turn. For a moment he thought she may vomit again

  
  


“I'm scared, Ez. It's still early yet; anything could happen.”

  
  


Ezra's hand went back to her stomach. “Hey now. Don't talk like that. Okay? I will lighten your load as much as I can.”

  
  


“I just hope that I haven't gotten your hopes up for nothing. I want this baby.”

  
  


“As do I dear wife. You'll be fine. We'll be fine,” he hugged Nora again. Upon hissing again in pain he asserted, “I really must stop doing that.”

  
  


Nora checked him over and declared three of his ribs broken. He had been covered head to toe in bruises that would take far too long to fade. His nose broken at the hand of his brother.

  
  


“There is a scar for every sin and a few for ones I haven't committed yet,” Ezra claimed as Nora traced the scar on his cheek that swelled from Dig's punches.

  
  


\--

  
  
  
  


He still couldn't believe he left her. Every thought of every moment he was gone was of her. He knew he had to get back to her. He shouldn't have left Nora behind. He should have foreseen the riots getting worse. He should have never raised a hand to her. Some seek redemption with whatever god they worship. Some seek peace by devoting their lives to taking care of others. Some, like Ezra, distance themselves to the point of isolation from anyone else. From everyone else.

  
  


Ezra dropped to his knees as the sight of their apartment building came into view. Collapsed and crumbled. Like his hope of reuniting with his soul.

  
  


Ezra struggled to get through the rubble to try and find his way to their flat. Anyone he came across feared him as they thought he had come to finish off whomever survived the initial devastation. His feet slipped on wet mud and he slid down a small embankment and into a dark ruined space. He recognized the space as their flat. The floor was littered with fallen shelving and the strange smelling herbs and powders that the healers would use. It was Nora's. Nora's gone. Nora's gone.

  
  


Ezra's breathing became shallow and fast. He flipped over shelves and dressers and debris, searching for any sign that she was still there. Hoping against hope that she managed to escape before the building collapsed.

  
  


“Nora!” Ezra screamed into the abyss.

  
  


The abyss did not scream back. Ezra was alone. He lost her. He left her because she was scared of him. Was she scared when the building came down? Was she all alone? Is this what death felt like? He lost her. He didn't know where to begin to find her.

  
  


In the rubble he found one of her tops. He inhaled the scent, but all he smelled was dust.

  
  


“I'm sorry, love.” he cried, “I am so sorry. I do not wish for a reprieve. I accept my fate. For this, I face eternity alone.”

  
  
  
  


–

  
  
  
  


“I think you misunderstand my intention for being here,” Ezra whispered against Nora's ear.

  
  


Nora smirked slightly as she continued rubbing Ezra through his trousers and kissing his neck, “There is only one reason to show up at my window after twilight.”

  
  


Nora pushed Ezra down onto her bed. She straddled his lap and dove back to kissing him. She broke from his lips long enough to get her top over her head revealing her breasts. She leaned down across his chest and he hissed.

  
  


Nora instinctively sat up and looked at Ezra with deep concern. “What's wrong? Where are you hurt?” Her hands searched his body for obvious injury.

  
  


“I'm fine. I'm -”

  
  


She pulled his t-shirt up revealing an array of bruises.

  
  


“Kevva, what happened?”

  
  


Ezra sighed and pulled down his shirt. He turned his head and worked his jaw. She placed a gentle hand on his chin and turned his face back to her.

  
  


“Ezra? What happened? You know you can tell me anything.”

  
  


Ezra had come to Nora after his fight with Dig. He needed her love. She gave her love so completely and freely. It was the only thing that saved him. Just being with her made him calmer. He just wanted to sleep with her. Just sleep. He could wrap himself around her and sleep for as long as she would allow. That was all he wanted.

  
  


“I just need to be with you,” Ezra finally said, “I just want to go to sleep. Can we do that?”

  
  


Nora seemed to accept that she would not get anything more from him that night. She moved to his side and curled up into him. She was cognizant of his injuries and wrapped her arm around his taunt stomach carefully.

  
  


“Goodnight my love,” Nora whispered before closing her eyes.

  
  


Ezra took Nora's hand into his and kissed her palm. “I love you,” his voice broke as he finally admitted to her, and to himself, his love for her.

  
  


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End file.
